Remembrance
by Danyu
Summary: [oneshot] On a winter day, Hatori remembers Kana.


**Remembrance**

By Dan'yu

_I dreamt I heard your laughter,_

_A sound so sweet it haunts my quiet moments._

_I was sure I heard you say my name,_

_A quiet whisper carried away by the wind._

_I thought I felt you here,_

_Your presence still lingers by my side._

_Memories overtake me,_

_Invading my grieving mind._

_The radiance of your smile,_

_Could brighten my darkest of days._

_The warmth of your love for me,_

_Capable of thawing my heart of ice._

_Memory sweeps over me…._

_I dreamed a dream last night,_

_And you were here with me._

_Smooth skin, soft touches, __warm__ kisses._

_Delusion, the sweetness of my fantasy._

_Remember, I was winter, cold and distant._

_And you were spring, warmth to my life._

_-Memory_

----

"_Hatori__ is like snow. He's cold like snow."_

"_**About **__**Ha'ri**__**….he's almost blind in his left eye."**_

"_Pleased to meet you. I'm Kana __Sohma__!"_

"_May I ask you a question? When snow melts, what does it become?"_

"_It becomes water, of course."_

"_Wrong! It becomes spring!"_

"_**They were engaged to be married. But…**__**Akito**__** got mad."**_

_She was spring. It was as if while imprisoned inside the dark cage of the inner family, I was completely frozen in snow…and then there she was- fresh, clear spring._

_It was almost inevitable that I would fall in love with her..._

"_I'm happy that I fell in love with you, __Hatori__. I __**want **__to be near you."_

"_**He hurt **__**Ha'ri's**__** eye."**_

_Like the frozen snow that's melted by the breath of spring……the tears wouldn't stop._

"_IT'S YOUR FAULT!"_

_Her heart fell ill…_

"_Just erase her memories. You had no problem with the others."_

"_It would…it would have been…been better if we had never met."_

"_There's no need to hurt anymore."_

"_**But **__**Ha'ri**__** didn't…blame **__**Akito**__**."**_

"_Goodbye…Kana."_

"_**He cried…but…he didn't blame **__**Akito**__**."**_

_-----_

Winter around the Sohma estate was always a cold and dismal affair. The skies above were a monotonous, impenetrable gray that never ceased, the outside blanketed in seas of white. The heavens would open occasionally, only to let loose a fresh onslaught of snow flurries to bury them deep in their homes.

Once, Hatori would have regarded the changing of the seasons as just another passing of time as the years slowly crept by him. Seasons changed, years passed, but life always stayed the same. And then, like a breath of sweet spring, she had come into his life. She warmed his icy heart, and made his think for the first time that a brighter future might be possible for those cursed with the vengeful spirits of the zodiac.

But like the playful warm breezes of spring, she had not stayed long, and slipped so easily from his grasp.

He knew better now, than to rely at all on the intangible, unreliable sentiment called hope.

He had loved her with everything he was. Everything he had to give, except what was claimed by his god. His connection to Akito had forced his decision to ask the family head's permission to marry Kana, but it had proved to be the worse decision he had ever made. Akito was vengeful, possessive, and spiteful; she did not want to share her beloved dragon.

Out of rage, Akito had attacked him, blinding him in his left eye. Whether enraged to the point of vengeance or guilty for her crime, Akito had set the blame on Kana, driving it in again and again until Kana had broken, thinking nothing more than that she had been the one whom had caused the wound to the man she loved.

Out of sympathy and love, Hatori had released her from her pain, from her memories of him, using the gift he had despised since birth.

He was hardly much of a man anymore, broken, defeated, and tamed. One eye blind to the future, the other forever looking to the past for some form of solace in his pain.

He sighed, rolling his shoulders against the weight of the great coat fitted snugly around his tall, lean frame, standing on his porch to watch as the snow fell, obscuring his view of anything but the brilliance of the falling flood.

Her picture hung on the mantle behind him, a constant reminder of both love and pain. Three years would never be enough to forget, that much he knew.

Brushing the long hair out of his eyes, he knew that despite the heavy snowfall and the endless cold, spring was due to come. It would have it's time.

Perhaps, though his time was over, the young ones of the Sohma family would have their chance. It was their time now.

All he could do now, was watch and protect. And hope.

_Somehow…no matter how cold it is, the snow will always melt._


End file.
